For Mikmaq fishers working within Ottawas baby eel rules, its a peaceful season [Video]

Some Mi’kmaq harvesters say working within Ottawa’s quotas for the contentious baby eel fishery is helping calm the tense atmosphere in their river workplaces.

In the shallows of the Gold River last Friday night, as the tiny, translucent eels known as elvers emerged from the mud, Jay Pennell — a member of the nearby Wasoqopa’q First Nation — swept his nets back and forth through the water and recalled past confrontations.

“There’s been lots of incidents on rivers we’ve been on in prior years,” Pennell said. “But right here on Gold River, there’s been nothing this year …. It’s very peaceful.”

By day he’s a carpenter in the community 75 kilometres southwest of Halifax; at night he dons hip waders and dips a mesh net in the chilly tidal river, catching a 2025 quota allocated through what’s known as the Treaty Rights Protected Fishery.

The fishery is overseen by staff …